Taxi driver slammed for abruptly stopping on first lane along Mandai Road to pick up passenger

A cabbie has raised the ire of a motorist as well as local social media after a dashcam clip of the taxi stopping abruptly on the right-most lane to pick up a passenger, causing a dangerous obstruction to other drivers on the fast lane.

The footage — recorded last night at 7:54pm — caught a Trans-Cab taxi braking hard on the first lane along Mandai Road after spotting a man who had been hailing for a ride from a median strip. Both the passenger and the cabbie are in the wrong (but it would have been kinda okay if it was done in an empty stretch of road) and the driver behind the cab obviously had to brake hard as well. A long honk was deserved and inflicted.

But if we’re to go by the Land Transport Authority’s rules, cabbies can pick up and alight passengers at areas other than bus lanes, bus stops, lanes with double zigzag lines and certain roads in the CBD. Of course, common sense should prevail — stopping abruptly in the first lane endangers other fast-moving vehicles trailing behind.